Somehow the Bruins made it through three rounds of playoffs with a power play that converted on just 5.4 percent of its chances.

When it came time to win the Stanley Cup, however, the Bruins were able to come through on their man-advantage.

No one was prouder of the Bruins’ 5-for-27 against Vancouver than assistant coach Geoff Ward, who has been Boston’s “power-play coordinator” since he was hired along with head coach Claude Julien in 2007. Ward, a mostly anonymous individual, suddenly found even casual fans talking about him as the power play struggled in the regular season and went just 3-for-56 in the first three rounds of playoffs.

“The power play goes in fits and starts. We had our struggles, but the guys were excellent in this series when we needed to have them excellent,” said Ward. “Our penalty killing got us through the rest of the rounds, but the guys just kept at it. And I give them a lot of credit. They worked through the things we were asking them to do and never got discouraged with it. As a result we got some timely goals at the right times.”

That the Bruins were able to thrive 5-on-5 distracted some of the attention away from the power play. Well, that and that the Bruins were able to win the 12 games they needed to reach the Final.

“Everybody talks about the power play, but when you take look at everything else that goes around our game. I think the power play with this team was more something that enhanced, or had the potential to enhance, what we did 5-on-5,” said Ward. “Whereas if you look at Vancouver, they lived an awful lot on their power play. So as much as you would’ve liked it to be better, and as much heat as it took, there were times when it was really good for us. And the credit’s to the guys.”

If you think Julien sticks with his players through thick and thin, you should know that he does the same for his assistants. Ward says that Julien never placed the blame at his aides’ feet and instead continued to collaborate with Ward and the other coaches to try to come up with solutions.

And things finally clicked a bit against the Canucks, as Boston scored five times and also put a lot of pressure on the Vancouver penalty kill.

“The power play was getting heat. He never pointed fingers,” said Ward of Julien, who previously coached with Ward with Hamilton of the American Hockey League earlier this century. “He just kept supporting us, working with us. He’s got to have full credit for sticking by his guns and what he believes in and believing in his people. When you come as a coach to work, and as a player, every day, and just worry about what you’ve got to do without the outside pressure on a daily basis, it’s huge.”

[…] displayed for the first three series’ (the finals were under 20% as well). At the time, Ward applauded the Bruins for sticking to system, a system that was massively flawed. This is the face of a man who was just told power play […]

The Bruins PP was terrible in the 2010-11 regular season and the playoffs. Almost as bad n 2009-10 season but was stellar in the 2008-09 season. This can all be contributed to two things… the loss of Marc Savard and the lack of a dominant shooter.

When you look at the top producing PP’s the last few seasons, they all have a dynamic duo. Backstrom-Ovechkin, Crosby-Malkin, Towes-Kane, Thornton-Marleau, Sedin-Sedin (hahaha) St. Louis-Stamkos and Zetterberg-Datsyuk.

Ward would obviously love to have any combo of players like this but they simply don’t. Hopefully, the emergence of Seguin as a shooter and Krecji as a true #1 playmaker will improve their PP next season.

Sometime you PK needs to pick up your PP and vice versa. The Bruins just one a Stanley Cup and believe it or not the PP (special teams in general) were great in the cup final against the best defensive team in the NHL.

Give the guy a break and if problems persist next season… give him the boot. But until then enjoy because what just happened for B’s fans doesn’t happen all the time.

The system just stink, they just play around high in the 3 men cycle, not sure if that is benefical given how much traffic there is in the shooting lane. I agree he has to go. There is a reason why Kaberle put up all the points in Toronto and nto much in Boston.

They need to change the approach on the PP, not sure if Ward is the guy for that. They need at least 1 or 2 skilled players to maintain possession, much crisper passing, and they need a mindset of shooting BEFORE the defense sets up to block the shot.

How can all you guys be so critical of Ward when you’ve probably never run a power play yourselves? I am sure he knows what he is doing–blame the players for once. It’s probably their execution that was the problem and not having a skilled PP guy like Savy. Take it easy; Ward is a Cup Champion!

As for the powerplay issues, blame need be spread equally amongst the players and coaches. That said, I still feel that the Bruins had way too much talent out there for the PP to suck so badly. Obviously, something wasn’t translating from the whiteboard to the ice, and that has to fall mostly on Ward. Not sure if there’s any worthwhile candidates to replace him, but if there is then the B’s have to go for it.

I am of the opinion that Geoff Ward still needs to lose his job-or at least lose the portion that has him in charge of the PP. The anemic PP wasn’t a problem in the playoffs, it was really a problem all season.

I like the fact that the Bruins were an outstanding 5 on 5 team and didn’t have to have a PP to win games, but really being able to convert a PP into a goal is still an important component of the game. The Bruins survived the Canucks more because their PK stepped up than that their PP was absolutely awesome.

I can’t believe he said what he said. I wonder if there’s such a thing as a reality check pill. Living in denial?? Woooooaashh! Unreal!

The PP sucked for 23 games out of the 25 games played. This your reality check pill Geoff. A kick in the butt is following if you don’t get it.

Winning the SC those have a way of inflating non-contributors’ ego. Get off your SC high when it comes to publicly appreciate the value of your work this p/0 run Goeff. Show wisdom, Get pucking real here, man!